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Self-Care Challenge (Day 81): Listening

On day 81 of my 366-day self-care challenge, I explored the art of listening.

Sometimes I don’t listen. I mean, I hear things that are happening around me, but I’m not really listening. I’m only half-listening. (Okay, maybe one-third listening.)

Part of the reason is, like so many of us, I’m doing other things when I should be listening: checking email, reading the news, or thinking about what I need to get done over the course of the day. I convince myself that I’ll listen as soon as I get one more email sent, or when I get just one more item checked off my to-do list.

Multi-tasking sounds great in theory. We trick ourselves into believing that we’ll accomplish more, but the truth is that we don’t have the bandwidth to give our attention to more than one thing at a time. (Texting and driving is a good example of a bad habit.)

Likewise, when we aren’t fully engaged in actively listening to others, it sends a message that we don’t value them or what they are saying. My husband will be talking away and I’ll realize at some point that I didn’t catch a single word he just said, and I imagine it’s pretty frustrating for him. I know I don’t particularly enjoy it when people do it to me.

So, as my self-care activity for the day, I focused intently on listening. And it was difficult. Really difficult, if I’m being honest.

Over the course of the day, I interacted with several people by phone and face-to-face, and it’s probably not surprising to learn that listening was a bit easier in face-to-face settings. When you’re staring at someone eyeball to eyeball, checking email just seems ridiculous. But even with face-to-face conversations, there can be distractions. In public places, we’re surrounded by other people, conversations and noises that steal our attention.

Talking on the phone presents its own unique challenges. It’s much easier to drift into multi-tasking mode when you’re staring at a pile of projects rather than a set of eyeballs. You think to yourself that no one will notice if you just finish up a quick email, jot down a few items on your grocery list, or pay a couple of bills.

Knowing this, I’ve discovered that I need to be very careful about what’s in front of me when I’m talking on the phone. If I clear my work space, thereby eliminating, or at least minimizing, distractions, I can focus my attention on the person I’m talking with. Not only am I able to capture more of details about what’s being said, I’m also able to participate in the conversation more. The exchange becomes more balanced and meaningful.

How do you stay focused when you’re listening?

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Stacy Fisher-Gunn

I’m the founder of Living Upp, a self-care planning and design company that teaches individuals and organizations how live up to their fullest potential using a unique 8-dimensional self-care system that I developed. I’m an author, speaker, and self-care designer with 18+ years of experience in the healthcare industry as a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator.